Scenes and Sports in Foreign Lands, etc

Front matter

SCENES AND SPORTS IN FOREIGN LANDS. ILLUSTRATED WITH A SERIES OF DRAWINGS TAKEN FROM NATURE. BY MAJOR E. NAPIER. 46th reotment. Y> "SeriouBly, that same shooting is a most barbarous amusement, only sit for majors in the army, and royal dukes, and that sort of people; the mere walking is bad enough, but em barrassing one'B arms, moreover, with a gun, and one's legs with turnip tops — exposing oneself to the mercy of bad shots and the atrocity of good — seems to me only a state of painful fnrigue, enlivened by the probability of being killed."— Sir E. L. BuXioer's Pelham. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 1840, TO HIS BEST AND EARLIEST FRIEND, TO THE FRIEND OF THE BRITISH SEAMAN, AND THE PRIDE OF HIS PROFESSION, TO "OLD" CHARLEY NAPIER, C. B. COUNT CAPE ST. VINCENT, ETC. ETC. la Delucatefc, THIS FIRST PRODUCTION FROM THE PEN OF HIS ATTACHED AND GRATEFUL ADMIRER, THE AUTHOR.

Preface

. The following pages, a portion of which appeared originally in the " Old Sporting Magazine," record some of the incidents which befel the Author and his com panions in arms in his and their younger days, during a long residence in " foreign lands," whither he had been led by the duties of his profession. Written amid the din of arms, the bustle of a camp, the uproar of a barrack-room, or the confusion of a troop-ship, these sketches of adventure abroad can prefer little claim either to scholarship, elegance of language, or brilliancy of style. Should the public, however, be dis-

PREFACE.

. VI posed to look with indulgence on this first essay of the Author, his Sporting Muse, warmed by the sunshine of their approving smiles, may in her next flight take a bolder course. If this work be void of any other merit, it can at least lay claim to that of authenticity. The incidents related are those which actually befel the parties engaged therein, given in nearly the same language as the rough notes from whence they are taken. The drawings are from sketches made on the spot. In the wild and adven turous expeditions herein recorded, the pencil and portfolio ranked in importance only second to the rifle and boar-spear. That the " pen" is not so familiar as the latter in the hands of the writer, and that he cannot direct the flow and expression of his thoughts with as much ease as the course of his charger, may be his mis fortune, but not his fault. Merchiston Hall, Hants, Oct. 1st, 1840. CONTENTS OI' THE FIRST VOLUME. Introductory Chapter p. xi

Chapter I

Antelope Shooting — The Night Start — Sporting Party in the Deccan — Ghorawallahs, the Rumna — The Ruins of Surroo-Nuggur — Chennoo — Hints on Shooting Antelopes — The Chase — The Death — Bringing Home the Deer - p. 1

Chapter II

Coursing in the Deccan — Horses and Dogs in India — The Lamplighter and Black Bess — Pariahs — An Adventure — The Baubery Hunt — The Painted Dog — Hard Run — In at the Death — Dead Alive — Fox Found - - p. CONTENTS.

Chapter III

Sporting at Gibraltar— The Cork Wood— The Almoraima — Conflict with a Mad Dog — Effects of a Scratch — Symptoms of Hydrophobia — Don Juan Rodriguez — Scenes in the Cork Convent— Old Martha— The Story of the Novice ------------ p. 52

Chapter IV

A Day's Hog-Hunting at Ellora — Fertile Plains of the Upper Deccan — Peafowl and Tigers — Aurungabad — Aurungzebe's Mosque — Shah Sahib Tukeah — Dowlutabad — Rosah — Plains of Candeish — Wonders of Ellora — Abundance of Game — Lacy's Misfortune — Cotton Ground — The Lamplighter — The Brave Pig — The First Spear— A Purl— The Death — The Feast ------p. 95

Chapter V

The Cantonment of Secunderabad — Society at Secunderabad — Amusements — The Sporting Commanding Officer — Old Mac's Stud — Tricks of Arab Horsedealers — Mowlh-Ali Races, p. CONTENTS. IX

Chapter VI

A Moonlight Night in the Jungle — Mowlh-Ali Hill — Game in the Neighbourhood — Vulture Shooting — Bait for a Tiger — Hindoo Girls — Ingenious Trap — The Caged Cheetah — The Hunting Cheetah— The Nautch - - p. 153

Chapter VII

Universal Insanity of the English — A Foreigner's Ideas of English Fox-Hunting — How to get a Firm Seat — Going too Fast to be Pleasant — Prince George of Cambridge at Gibraltar — First Day of the Season with the Calpe Hounds --------- p. 181

Chapter VIII

Deep Jungle Shooting — An Indian Forest — Encounter with a Tiger — A Touch at a Wild Buffalo p. 237

Chapter IX

Deep Jungle Shooting — The Spirit of the Lake — The Ambush — Winging a Little Grunter— Disappointment — The Sportsmen's Banquet — Story of the Hookah-Burdar - - - p. ILLUSTRATIONS. VOLUME I. A Griffin's First Day's March in India . frontispiece Antelope Shooting near the Ruins of Surroo Nuggur p. 13 Sporting Party in the Ruins of Surroo Nuggur 20 Tia Martha at the Almora'ima 81 A Day's Hog Hunting at the Caves of Ellora 96 Tomb of Chunda, at Mowlh Ali .... 153 Mowlh Ali Hill, from the East 154 Meet of the Calpe Hunt 199 Too Close to be Pleasant ....... 247 A Touch at a Wild Buffalo 254 VOLUME II. Introduction to Bruin frontispiece A Pic-Nic Tiffin in the Deep Jungles . . . p. 9 The Goundum Pagodah 18 The Phantom Man-Eater 39 One of the Tombs at Beder 98 Encampment of the Sporting Club . . . .117 Tombs of the Kootub-Shah Dynasty . . . 153 One of Meer Alum's Serais 187 Snake Charmer INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

THE AUTHOR JOINS HIS REGIMENT IN INDIA — PRO- GRESS OF THE NEOPHYTE A YOUNG " GRIFFIN" WONDERS THAT BURST UPON HIM THE FEA- THERED TRIBE — THE ADJUTANT EXTRAORDI- NARY ANECDOTES — TREES AND ANIMALS TODDY AN EASTERN NIGHT — NATIVE BARBER HINDOO GIRL SUMPTUOUS BREAKFAST — SPORTING PARTY A DISAPPOINTMENT. On first entering the army at an early age, I joined my regiment in India. A strong natural taste for the sports of the field was here brought to maturity, and steadily followed up in that " seventh heaven" of the sportsman. It would be tedious to trace during its whole course the progress of the neo phyte, in the " cunning of his craft," in that far land, from the moment when THE neophyte. XII having crossed the "surf,"* a green, beardless, and red-cheeked novice, he displays his budding propensity to imitate the mighty hunter of old, the great Nim rod, by knocking over long-tailed parro quets amongst the groves of tall cocoa-nut trees at Poonamallee, or stalking for grey Paddy birds amidst the swampy expanse of the surrounding rice fields, to that proud era of his sporting career when he beholds extended at his feet, pierced by his now unerring rifle, the kingly carcass of the royal tiger ; or when, with foot firmly planted on the reeking body of the bristly savage, he exultingly withdraws from its bloody sheath the sharp head of his well-tried boar-spear.

Through all the different acts of these intervening stages did I pass during a long * An expression equivalent to entering or leav ing India, as a person is never supposed to venture across this tremendous barrier of the Coromandel coast, unless on such momentous occasions. A YOUNG GRIFFIN. XIII f and Bedouin-like residence, principally amongst the jungles of the Deccan, a life endeared by the most pleasing associations ; and if tried friends, boon compa nions, and a perpetual recurrence of spirit stirring adventures, when accompanied by the enjoyment of health, and freedom from all cares, tend to promote happiness, then most undoubtedly did I enjoy that " ne plus ultra" of the day-dreams of the phi losopher ; for never, on the whole, could time have been more pleasantly spent. Although I purpose not to tire the reader with the whole initiation into the mysteries of the chase, of a young griffin* on first landing in India, still I must put him au fait as to the first d£but of our youthful friend, in scenes and amongst objects so entirely new to him ; and al though he does not, like Hercules, start * Until a man has been a year and a day in India, he retains the appellation of " griffin," equivalent to greenhorn.

( b NUMBER OF ANIMALS. XIV from his cradle and throttle a boa con strictor or cobra capello, yet in due imi tation of that worthy of old, I will in time describe " as how" he gored the sa vage boar, bagged I know not how many brace of snipe and royal tigers before breakfasts had them all curried together, with a variety of other equally authentic and interesting narrations, in this our story of " Scenes and Sports in Foreign Lands." Nature, which within the tropics is so luxuriant and prolific in the vegetable kingdom, is no less bountiful and lavish in the animal one • and the first things which strike the uninitiated European, on putting his foot on the sunny shores of India, are the numbers and familiarity of the animals unreclaimed, and free from the sway of man. The young officer marching his detachment to its first station, Poonamallee, has not left the gates of Fort St. George ere he is astonished at seeing crows (in his CROWS AND KITES.

XV own land that most wary of the feathered tribe) fearlessly and gravely pacing along the verandahs, almost under the feet of the soldiers ; whilst numerous large kites hovering about on the wing, and wide awake to everything going forward, will occasionally carry their boldness so far as to sweep past the cook boys carrying in large wicker baskets the meat destined for the use of the soldiers, and should a detached and portable morsel meet their glance, it is instantaneously carried aloft in their serried claws. Besides the above crows and kites, numerous vultures are the usual visitors and scavengers of the barrack yard. These disgusting-looking birds are of two species, one of a dirty white, the other of a dark brown colour, the face divested of feathers, and of a most bilious looking dark yellow hue.* * These revolting and obscene birds sometimes gorge themselves to such a degree, that the author 6 THE adjutant.

In Fort William, to these gentry are added the " adjutant," who, from his greater bulk and capacity of stomach, is a still more efficient scavenger. I have often heard the Qui-Hy's* relate curious anecdotes of this extraordinary bird, which appears to belong to the stork species. I remember C d, who is an old Ben galee, vouching for the truth of the following: — " When I was a youngster," said he, " at my father's quarters in the Fort, I used to play the adjutants all man ner of tricks ; on one occasion, I remember getting a couple of large marrow bones, and, after fastening them both together, charging the cavities with gunpowder well rammed down, we applied a slow match, has galloped up to a party feasting on the carcass of a bullock, and singling out one, ere he could soar out of reach, has, whilst skimming along the ground, driven the spear through his back. * The Bengalees are so nick-named.

EXTRAORDINARY ANECDOTE. XVII and threw them in this state into the midst of the adjutants which were stalking about in front of the barracks. A couple of them immediately pounced each on a bone, which was as soon swallowed, but the connecting string had on them the same effect which the leash has on two dogs wishing to go opposite ways. After a short tussle on terra firma, our Siamese twins betook themselves to the regions of air. In the meantime, their internal enemy, the slow match, had not been idle ; scarcely had they soared to the height of a few dozen yards, when a tremendous explosion took place • the frag ments of bone and a piece of singed rope fell to the ground, but the adjutants had disappeared in a cloud of smoke and feathers !" Thunders of applause rang from every side of the mess table, which, from the manner in which they were expressed, ap- THE ADJUTANT AND peared to give the narrator little satisfaction, as impugning the veracity of his youthful exploit.

" Go it again, ' Childe Harold;' another yarn !" re-echoed from all sides, when, as soon as the " Childe" could make himself heard, he said, " Well, gentlemen, you no doubt think it a very tough fellow ; you shall now have one of a more soft and pathetic nature. Shortly after this occurrence, wishing to carry on my experiments with the adjutants, I chose my opportunity, and enticed a favourite little Blenheim lap-dog, belonging to one of the ladies of the family, into the square, in view of the adjutants. The latter ap peared at first undecided what course to pursue, a real Blenheim being a delicacy to which they had probably not been accustomed. In the meantime, the poor little dog, nothing abashed at the attention bestowed upon him, was sauntering carelessly and fearlessly along, as he might, THE LAP-DOG.

XIX under similar circumstances, have done at home, in a barn-yard well stocked with turkeys and fowls. At this moment, a huge adjutant gravely approached, and only moving the muscles of his counte nance to yawn destruction on the unhappy little animal, took him quietly up, and the next moment he disappeared down the deep abyss opened to receive him. A piercing shriek warned me, in my place of concealment, that other eyes had be held the metamorphosis of the dog into a ' swallow.' The next instant, a fair form, with dishevelled locks, was rushing across the square ; but 'twas too late. The adjutant majestically soared aloft, and I beheld him alight on the highest pinnacle of a distant building, where, like ' patience on a monument smiling at grief,' he leisurely and complacently appeared to await the progress of digestion."

" Very soft, and very pathetic," said XX THE BANDYCOOTE. the grim-looking Colonel W , depo siting his claret glass at the conclusion of the story, " and having been myself long at Fort William, I can vouch for the wonderful feats occasionally performed by these remarkable birds. I one day saw a live bandycoote* swallowed by one of them, but the next instant, to our surprise, he emerged from amidst the feathers ofthe bird's paunch, having evidently eaten him self out of limbo, and was taking himself off with all speed. The adjutant, how ever, was too quick for him ■ he was again bagged, and again made his escape, and the process was continued tiU the poor bandycoote died of sheer fatigue and ex haustion, was once more swallowed, and no longer burst the cerements of his living sepulchre." This story was a poser : I however * This is a very large species of rat, about the size of a guinea pig.

THE YOUNG OFFICER. XXI heard it suggested to a confirmed bon vivant, that a valuable hint might be from this taken, to enable the epicure to enjoy a frequent repetition of repasts, without any danger of suffering from surfeit or in digestion. But I have been digressing, having left our young officer gaping at the crows and kites in the " bomb-proof" at Fort St. George, instead of keeping his eyes about him to see that none of his detach ment of recruits were surreptitiously sup plied with arrack. The consequence is, that before he reaches the gardens of Ve pery, all the doolies which follow the de tachment are occupied, not with sick and wounded, but with jolly patients reeling under the influence of a more " spiritual" deity of drink than that of the rosy god. The poor young man is in a dreadful state of alarm lest he should be brought to a court-martial and broke for neglect EASTERN NOVELTIES. of duty; but, in all his trepidation, he can not help stopping occasionally to watch the green parroquets amongst the waving branches of the graceful bamboo ; the pretty little striped squirrels, as they nimbly bound up the banyan and tulip trees which border the road ; or the brilliant and variegated plumage of the beau tiful " neil-kanth," or blue-throated fly catcher, pursuing its prey in rapidly re volving circles over his head.

All these, and a thousand other novel ties fix his youthful attention ; and, as he rides along on the broken-down old Arab, the elegant specimen of horse flesh from Mr. Moore's livery stables, he, wishing his responsibility and detachment together at the devil, longs to be trying his new double-barrelled fowling-piece on the strange-looking creatures around him. He leaves behind him the gardens, and emerges into the plains, when new ob- VARIED OBJECTS. XXIII jects crowd on his bewildered ken. Flocks of buffalos wallowing in the mud of a tank, natives passing and repass ing, messengers on Hurcarah camels, graceful-looking Hindoo girls drawing water from the well, all make him fancy himself in the land of dreams, or reading the Arabian Nights' Entertainments. And then the scenery, so different from that of the frozen north !

The tropical palm in aU its varieties, the waving and volup tuous-looking cocoa-nut and date trees sleepily nodding their leaf-crowned heads, the smooth broad-leafed plantain, the tall and fan-like palmyra. But stay ; what are those creatures swarming up its tall and naked trunk ? — they are not monkeys — they surely cannot be men. Here, bugler, sound a halt ! We will give five minutes to the stragglers to come up, whilst we rest under the tall and leafless stems of these skeleton trees. THE PALM TREE. But the figures going aloft towards their green and waving summits with such apparent facility are human beings : a hoop encircles their bodies and the trunk of the tree; their feet, fastened together with thongs of coir rope,* rest against the latter, whilst, with successive jerks of their bodies, and by the help of the hoop, they are rapidly carried upwards to their destination.

When arrived at the leafy canopy above, the swarthy figure, naked as Adam, with the exception of two slight folds of linen, one enveloping the head, the other the loins, detaches a large vessel, which fastening behind him, he descends with as much celerity as he ascended. The recruits crowd around him, and he appears busily distributing, for a consideration, the contents of his earthen vessel. Still, something must be wrong ; for behold * A strong cordage made out of the fibres of the cocoa-nut tree. THE OLD SERGEANT. XXV the bronzed face of the old sergeant, the only one who has been in India before, kin dles with wrath, and, after in vain attempt ing to put a stop to the " long pulls and strong pulls" which the young votaries of Mars are taking, he hastens to his equally juvenile commander with the following appeal, delivered in a rich Milesian dia lect : — " Sure, your honour, 'tis toddy the boys are afther dhrinking, and if your honour does not put a stop to it, in two minutes the whole detachment, bugler and all, will be dhrunk."— " The devil !

Well, sergeant, break all the crockeryware of those niggers ; and tell the bugler to sound the ' fall-in,' whilst he is sober enough to do so." Our novice, in the meantime, who is a great admirer of Byron, recalls the following lines : — " The palm, the loftiest dryad of the woods, Within whose bosom infant Bacchus broods, While eagles scarce build higher than the crest Which shadows o'er the vineyard in her breast." INTOXICATING LIQUOR. The thought flashes across his mind that he has been guilty of the imprudent act of halting his detachment in the very spot where they are the most exposed to the temptation of imbibing an intoxicating liquor,* and he hastens to repair his error by getting them under weigh as soon as possible, amidst the vociferations of the poor " tar-wallah," who is clamouring about his broken chatties. * This liquor, which is called by Europeans toddy, and tar by the Natives, is extracted from the date, the cocoa-nut, and palmyra tree, by making an incision in the trunk of the former, and cutting off a leaf from the two latter trees, to the stump of which is applied at night an earthen vessel, which in the morning is found to contain two or three quarts of what, before fermentation takes place after sun-rise, is a sweet, cool, and refreshing beverage.

But the heat of the sun soon converts it into an in toxicating liquor, in which state it is eagerly drunk by the soldier, and proves the source of as much crime as the potheen cabins in Ireland, or the wine shops of Gibraltar. Every toddy tree pays a regulated tax to government. AN EASTERN NIGHT. XXVII It is getting dusk ; a large banyan tree marks that they have completed half their march ; a " cornacopolly" is here awaiting them with refreshments, when a biscuit and glass of arrack are distributed to every man, and they again move off in the dark, for the short twilight of a tropical clime is speedily covered with the sable mantle of night. Our griffin is now more astounded than ever by sights and sounds totally novel ; he goes along amidst a moving firmament of glittering stars, which, in the shape of fire-flies, dance around him in endless mazes ; the vampire-like flying fox flits slowly and gloomily overhead, and his ears are assailed by a Babel of sounds proceeding from innumerable rep tiles, insects, and creeping things, re joicing in the mild dews of evening and the descent of burning Sol.

He at last arrives at the wished-for A SURPRISE. haven of Poonamallee ; his forces are duly installed in barracks ; a hearty welcome and plentiful supper await him at the mess-house ; and he concludes his first day in India nearly stunned and stupified by such a variety of novel sights, and scarcely aware whether he is in the land of fiction or reality. Such were my impressions on the first day of my arrival ; and now to try the readers' patience by pursuing a little fur ther the infant career of the embryo sportsman, for " sporting," be it remembered, is the pith and marrow of our tale. Next morning, he is awakened by a strange feeling about his face ; he starts up, apprehensive of finding himself within the jaws of a boa-constrictor, when, to his surprise, he is already well-lathered, not with the mucus of the foul reptile, HINDOO GIRL.

XXIX but with a genuine composition from the soap-nut tree,* and under the hands of a native barber, so skilful as to be removing a beard where no symptoms of one ever existed before. He frees himself as soon as possible from the man of soap-suds, when a dark, though pretty, female form, whose beau tiful contour is still better developed by her graceful dress and attitude, is seen gliding past the ante-room door with a huge, but classically shaped earthen vessel on her head, shaded by raven locks and gar landed with fragrant white flowers. This is the "tawny-catch." Our poor young man has scarcely time to compare this dusky apparition to Neuha, " in growth a woman, though in years a child," ere he * The berries of this beautiful tree, after under going a certain process, are made to answer all the purposes of common soap.

D0BASK, OR BUTLER. is forcibly seized by his self-constituted " dobash," stripped of his clothing forci bly, conducted into a bathing apartment, and nearly drowned by numerous chatties of delightfully cool water being poured over his head by an obsequious " maty."* He is then rubbed down like a horse, re conducted to his sleeping-room, dressed like a child by the aforesaid dobash, and finds a good breakfast and a jovial party awaiting him at the mess-room, that low, long building, overshadowed by tulip trees, on the opposite side of the green, and fifty yards from his own quarters. * The dobash, or butler ; the maty, or under servant ; and the tawny-catch, or girl, whose busi ness is to furnish the requisite supply of water, are the nucleus of a young officer's domestic establish ment in India, where the number of servants is pro verbially great ; but, in this respect, on the Madras side, it is not carried to anything like the extent that it is in Bengal.

SUMPTUOUS BREAKFAST. XXXI He here meets with many young men of his own age, all intent on enjoyment, and in the full excitement of novelty ; a sumptuous breakfast is speedily devoured, followed by noyeau and other liqueurs, and they adjourn to the verandah to digest with a cheroot their morning repast, and settle the occupations and amusements of the day. Some saunter over to the stables to admire their new purchases ; others try their unpractised hands with the pellet bow* on the numerous honey birdsf which, constantly flitting on the wing, are draining sweets from the pale yellow cups of the tulip-tree flowers ; or direct their bullet * The pellet bow is generally made of a piece of bamboo, kept bent by a double string, which is separated by a small piece of wood ; on a tape con necting the two strings are placed small sun-dried clay balls, about the size of marbles, which are dis charged with great force, and often wonderful ac curacy, by the practised pellet archer. f The honey bird is a species ofthe hummingbird.

SHOOTING PARTY. archery against some grave-looking old blood-sucker,* who, with red and swoln face and nodding head, is quietly basking on that old decayed branch. A third party, amongst whom is our young neophyte, determined on a day's shooting, don their traps, get out their new doublebarrels, and, being duly equipped, sally forth. About Poonamallee is to be met capital snipe ground ; but our griffs know not where to seek it ; they blunder into the green rice-fields up to their knees in mud and water, blazing away at everything which comes across them, from a paddy birds to a blue jay. * The blood-sucker, a large kind of lizard, though perfectly harmless, is so called from his ferocious appearance and blood-stained countenance. He has some of the properties of the chamelion in changing his colour, and, like the latter, feeds on insects. t A small species of stork, very common in the rice grounds.

JUNGLE SPORT. XXXIII See, one of the latter has been bagged by our friend ; how he admires its beautiful plumage ; it is carefully enveloped in brown paper, and consigned to the care of the attendant " maty," to serve as a subject for his brush and pencil ! Listen to the exulting cry of yon tall youth with the flaxen hair ; he has just successfully performed a brilliant military manœuvre, taken in flank a long row of sand-larks, philosophising on one of the serpentining ridges of the rice-fields, and is now dash ing through pool and quagmire to secure his killed and wounded. But, tired of this aquatic sport, they are determined to try the jungle : let us follow them to yonder clump of bahr bushes, to which they appear to be at tracted by the monotonous cooing of the numerous doves. It is a regular race be tween them to see who shall first reach DOVES AND OTHER BIRDS. the favoured spot.

The long-legged fellow in the flaxen locks has it all his own way, pulls up, brings the but to his shoulder, pulls the trigger, rushes in amidst the thorns, and bears out in triumph the poor dove,* whose soft yet brilliant eye dis closes a thousand beauties ere it shuts for ever. Jealous of this successful shot, they hasten to yon green mangoe tope :f here is rare work for powder and shot ; minahs, king-crows, cherubims,| and mangoe birds, all indiscriminately swell the bag, * Nearly every bush is occupied by its cooing tenants, who, in the heat of noon-day, to one en camped in the jungle, and languidly reposing in his tent, furnish a concert of sweet though monotonous sounds, peculiarly soothing to the mind and pleasing to the ear. f A tope means a grove. J A very small owl, which is often known by this name, because, during the day, whilst ensconced amidst the shady branches of a tree, they " con tinually do cry."

A GRIFFIN'S DISAPPOINTMENT. XXXV which at last can contain no more, and is brought back in triumph. But only imagine the mortification of the party when, after mess, on the afore said bag being produced, instead of elicit ing admiration, its contents only cause peals of laughter amongst the old hands, who are ready to drop off their chairs with merriment at the very idea of good powder and shot having been so wantonly wasted ! Crest-fallen and dejected, our poor griffins hide as soon as possible their diminished heads, by sneaking off to their respective quarters. Here our young friend next morning finds himself laid up with a sharp attack of dysentery, and during a fortnight pays, with sundry ap plications of leeches and doses of calomel, for this his first day's experience in the sports of " foreign lands."

He however recovers, joins his regi- CLIMATE. ment, becomes by degrees seasoned to the climate ; and now, tough as leather, and inured to every fatigue, witnesses and participates in, at different periods, the " scenes and sports" herein described. SCENES AND SPORTS IN FOREIGN LANDS.